The Debutante And Her Entourage
by Samantha14
Summary: Future AU. Emily, while getting along in years, can still manipulate with the best of them. In this story, she manipulates two granddaughters, a grandson, and a great-granddaughter. Read to find out what they must do! Or just, you know, look at the title.


Title: The Debutante And Her Entourage

Chapter 1: With A Childish Grin And A Camera

Disclaimer: I do not own Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore, Luke Danes, Jess Mariano, Paris Gellar, Lane Kim, Dave Rygalski, or any other recognizable characters. I_ do_ own Samuel Lucas Danes, Diane Gilmore Danes, and Jake Ryan Danes from my former story "It All Starts With A Kiss" and the characters Baylor Clarke, Amelia Lorelai Mariano, Justin Richard Mariano, Kaitlyn Eustace Gellar-Clarke, Kurt Cobain Rygalski, and William Danes Mariano from my former stories "What Sam Says" and "Back In Stars Hollow (Again)". 

Summary: Future AU. Emily, while getting along in years, can still manipulate with the best of them. In this story, she manipulates two granddaughters, a grandson, and a great-granddaughter into participating in…well, just read. 

A/N: This is a combination of my favorite original characters from two of my favorite stories, along with a slight storyline. The time-line below should help you, but just in case, here're a few details: Jess succumbed to the evilness of California and made a movie with his best friend, a lesbian named Baylor. While they were making it in New York, they ran into Rory, vacationing with Paris. I made Paris gay, so two couples came out of that meeting. Figure out the two. Also, I rewrote season 3, marrying Luke and Lorelai in December of that year. As of right now, Lane and Dave are on tour with their band, and their child is living in Stars Hollow with Luke/Lorelai Rory/Jess, because all three couples have boys the same age. And: the DAR debutante ball has changed from the November 6 of 2001 to January 6 of 2020. Deal.  

**_December 7, 2002_**—Luke and Lorelai Danes married

**_July 31, 2004_**—Samuel Lucas Danes and Diane Gilmore Danes born

**_July 27, 2007_**—Rory and Jess Mariano married

**_January 12, 2008_**—Amelia Lorelai Mariano born

**_September 1, 2008_**—Lane and Dave Rygalski married

**_February 14, 2009_**—Paris Gellar and Baylor Clarke exchanged commitment vows

**_December 7, 2009_**—Justin Richard Mariano born

**_April 25, 2010_**—Kaitlyn Eustace Gellar-Clarke born

**_March 13, 2011_**—Jacob Ryan Danes born

**_March 14, 2011_**—Kurtis Cobain Rygalski born

**_March 15, 2011_**—William Danes Mariano born

**_December 5, 2019_**—Today.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Fifteen-year-old Sam Danes stands outside his English II classroom, cringing. 

"You're gonna have to go in there eventually," an annoyingly superior voice says from behind him. Sam bundles up a sheet of loose leaf from his binder and throws it over his shoulder at the voice. "You need to pick that up."

Sam groans and turns around to face his twin. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Nope," Diane shakes her head. "Amy's picking up everyone at the elementary school and taking them to the diner. Besides, Mom told me to make sure you make it into the classroom this time." 

"But—" Sam sputters angrily.

"Get _in _there, you big baby. Do you want me to push you?" Diane offers hospitably.

"No. Ugh, fine!" Sam pushes the door open and falls into the classroom. As soon as he sees the teacher, he tries to turn around, but Diane waves from the window. He groans and walks up to the desk. Diane, satisfied, turns and leaves Stars Hollow High, waving to a few people on the way out of the building.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two young girls bustle quickly and quietly into the diner, followed almost immediately by a group of four loud boys. The girls call for doughnuts and coffee and leave before their orders are handed to them, choosing instead to fly up the stairs to Luke Danes' renovated apartment. Kaitlyn Gellar-Clarke reaches the door first and turns to Amy Mariano.

"Amy, do you have the key?"

Eleven-year-old Amy hands her latest book to Kaitlyn and slides her backpack from her shoulders. She comes up empty after a minute. "I think Diane stole it yesterday."

Nine-year-old Kaitlyn copies the look of unhappiness on Amy's face, and then hands Amy's book back to her. "Are we going to go ask Luke for it?"

Luke answers them by appearing in the stairwell suddenly, bearing two cups of coffee, two chocolate donuts, and the key. "Gonna do homework?" the older man asks, handing the food and drink to the girls and unlocking the door. 

"Yep!" Kaitlyn answers, jumping into the large, practically one-room apartment and throwing her bag towards one of the ten office desks. Amy hangs back to talk to Luke.

"Grandpa?" she asks shyly as he turns to head downstairs.

"Hmm?" he turns and faces her. 

She scuffs her toe on the floor in front of her and asks her feet, "Are Mom and Dad getting a divorce?"

"What?" he asks, shocked. "What did Jess do?"

"No, it's not Dad," she says quickly, looking up and shaking her head. "It's more Mom. She's been spending her nights at the Inn instead of at home."

"I'd ask your grandmother about that one, but I think Rory's just working on her book."

"Oh." Amy nods. "I thought so, but I wasn't too sure. Thanks."

"My pleasure." Luke softens the second Amy's chocolate brown eyes show her smile. He responds with the same, and she turns and heads into the apartment. Luke watches as she settles at her desk, flipping on her maroon lamp and starting up her sleek silver laptop. As she begins typing, Luke turns and heads back downstairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diane meanders slowly around the small town of Stars Hollow. Every once in a while she'll stop and snap a photograph, savoring the click that tells her that she's captured a moment in time. Suddenly, as the song she's listening to picks up the beat, she lifts her camera over her head, closes her eyes, and spins. After a few turns she suddenly stops and opens her eyes. 

She's surprised to see an embarrassingly cute boy duck behind a tree. Curious, she takes a step forward, and notices him peeking around the large trunk. 

Trying to save the boy's pride, she spins one more time and walks off, towards the Dragonfly Inn. As she's about to turn the corner, she glances back one more time to see the boy staring at her. When she catches his eye, he turns around and walks in the other direction quickly, trying to whistle but failing. She smiles at the cute boy who watched her, and shakes her head.

"Boys," she mutters, and continues on her way.

After a minute of straight walking, she reaches the beautifully renovated Inn, and walks directly in the front door. She waves at her mother, who is standing behind the front desk, and then takes a seat in a nearby chair. As Diane writes down the locations of her latest photographs, Lorelai Danes walks over and greets her daughter with a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day at school?" Lorelai asks, settling into a chair near Diane's. Diane finishes writing with a flourish, closes the book, and puts it away before answering her mother. 

"I watched Sam talk to Mr. Black."

"All the way through?" Lorelai raises her eyebrows.

"Well…no." Diane lets out a slight chuckle. "I'm not my brother's keeper." She defensively throws her pen into her bag, and then crosses her arms over her chest. Lorelai reaches out a hand and rubs Diane's arm.

"Di, honey, you getting annoyed with boys?"

The teenager sighs disgustedly, dropping her arms and leveling her gaze at her mother. "We've got about _twenty of them."_

Lorelai smiles at the exaggeration. "_We've only got two."_

"And Dad, which makes three, and then Jess is four, Justin and Will are six, Kurt's seven…." Diane shakes her head and leans back into her chair. "I'm just glad that Dave's not here. _And _that Kaitlyn has two moms."

"Yeah, we'll have to have a girls only night soon."

"Yes, let's!" Diane grins, excited now. Lorelai smiles. 

"I'll have to get that arranged." Lorelai glances over her shoulder as someone yells for her, and she stands. "I've gotta go, sweets. Gonna stay here and watch the front desk for me?"

Diane shakes her head. "I've got homework."

"Okay." Lorelai squeezes Diane's arm and then turns to leave.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?" Lorelai turns back around to face her daughter.

"Where's Rory?"

"Um, I think she's in the back study." Lorelai points over Diane's shoulder, and the teenager smiles. 

"Thanks." Diane waits until Lorelai has been swallowed by a group of concerned employees, and then she bolts towards the back study, what has become her sister's haven of sorts. As she reaches the door, she sees that it is slightly ajar. She taps quietly, startling Rory Mariano from her reverie.

"Oh! Hi!" Rory smiles at Diane through the door, and then stands and walks over to her. "Come on in."

Diane obliges, choosing to topple into a large armchair near the picture window, her favorite. Rory settles back into her seat at her desk slowly. Diane notices Rory's fatigue, the only remnant from her bout with ovarian cancer a year ago. 

"Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" Rory asks after a few minutes. Diane sits up straighter. 

This is her big chance. 

She sighs and resettles into the chair. 

"Diane?" Rory prompts a second later. Diane sighs and leans forward.

"Why are boys so weird?" she asks conspiratorially, an uncertain look on her face. Rory bites her lip to keep from laughing, and then leans forward also.

"I have no idea."

Diane sighs again, and then flops backwards. Rory stifles a smile at the obvious personification of both Diane's parents—the sighing and the flair for the dramatic. 

"Tell me about this weird boy," Rory commands, gathering her various scattered papers into their folder. 

"How'd you know it was a certain boy?" Diane asks suspiciously, sitting up and staring at her sister. 

Rory smiles. "I had a weird boy of my own when I was your age." 

"Dean?" Diane asks. 

"How'd you know?" 

The teenager shrugs. "Mom sat me down at the start of my sophomore year and told me about when you were fifteen you had your first boyfriend and you didn't tell her about him till after you had your first kiss and she didn't want me to do that, too." 

Rory shakes her head and collects her folders. "Mom's a character." Finished organizing, Rory spins her desk chair around. "Is this weird boy watching you and following you around?"

Diane nods, remembering the incident that afternoon. It's only one in a list of many. 

Rory smiles. "And is he cute?"

Diane blushes. Rory takes this to mean a yes.

"He likes you," she says softly, resting a hand on Diane's knee. "Go talk to him tomorrow. See what happens."

Diane thinks over these instructions in her head, and then nods. "Thanks." She smiles at her sister. 

Rory nods and stands. "That's what I'm here for." Rory hugs Diane, and they leave the back study, arm-in-arm. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam sighs as he enters his father's diner. His younger brother and friends are huddled in a corner, being their rowdy selves. He spots Luke out of the corner of his eye and ducks upstairs. He enters what has been dubbed "the homework apartment" by the parents in his family-like group. Kaitlyn and Amy have finished their homework and are engrossed in the TV in a corner of the apartment. Sam dismisses the young girls and heads to his desk, situated in a corner of what used to be Jess' room. He pulls out his English textbook; it falls open on his desk. A long, official looking letter spills from the pages. Sam snatches up the note from his English teacher and makes it into a little ball, before shooting it into his wastebasket. 

"Score!" Baylor Clarke announces, walking into the apartment. "Great shot," she grins at Sam, and then looks around for her daughter. 

"Kait sweet, we've got to get going. We're meeting Paris for dinner."

"In Hartford?" Kaitlyn asks, springing to her feet. Baylor nods, and Kaitlyn squeals and gathers her stuff together. Amy watches her friend go, and then turns the TV off and walks over to her cousin. 

"Why did you have to stay after school today?" the pre-teen asks, pulling a chair up to Sam's desk. She puts her elbows on the wood and leans her head in her hands. 

Sam groans. "Who said I had to stay after school today?"

"I'm not an idiot," Amy says defensively. "And besides, Grandma tells Mom _everything_, and vice versa."

"So you eavesdropped?"

"It's not eavesdropping when they're practically yelling right outside my bedroom."

"They _are _loud," Sam agrees, pulling out homework. He glances quickly at the note lying in the trashcan. Amy notices, and walks over and picks it up. Sam doesn't notice, thinking she's walking away. After taking the note, she does.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rory enters her home, gazing at the knickknacks and memories scattered around. She hasn't been home for a week, staying instead at the Inn, working through her days and writing through her nights. Everyone, from her mother to her best friend's young daughter, have told her that it's not good for her to not get sleep…her body's already tired from fighting off the cancer. She refuses to listen, choosing instead to finish her book. 

And she's done it. It's over; done with. The only thing left to do is get the manuscript to her contact at the publisher, and then edit accordingly. She grins, lifting her folders from her briefcase and setting them on her bedside table. She glances at the made bed, and then wanders back into her living room.

"Just as I thought," she murmurs, noting the sheets tangled on the couch. She sighs and begins to straighten them, sorry that she's spent so much time away from her husband. She decides to forget about the novel for at least a week, and spend time with her husband instead. She wonders if she can convince him to take off work for a week. 

As she makes her way into the kitchen, the front door opens. 

"I'm in the kitchen," she announces, pulling out things for dinner. 

"Mom!" Amy yells, rushing towards her mother's voice. The preteen throws her arms around her mother and breathes in. Rory smells of gardenias and pen ink; for the rest of her life, Amy will always equate gardenias and ink to her mother. Jess Mariano, also, equates those smells with his wife, and he smiles and follows his daughter into the kitchen. 

"Rory," he smirks, getting a water bottle from the fridge. Rory smirks back at him, and then separates from her daughter. 

"I have to talk to Dad. Why don't you—"

"'Go up to your room for a while?'" Amy mocks her mother, and then leaves the room in a slight huff. 

Rory looks at her husband. "Where are the boys?"

"The homework apartment," he answers, walking over to her. "They're watching TV." 

She sighs happily as he slips his arms around her. "I've missed you," she says quietly.

"I've missed you," he repeats, kissing her forehead. 

She sighs again, and mushes her face into his shoulder. "We've got dinner with my grandparents tonight," she moans, muffled by his shirt.

"And your parents. _And_ all the kids."

"Oh, joy," she says dryly, moving her head so that she's resting her cheek on his shoulder. 

"Oh, joy," he repeats in the same tone of voice, with the same enthusiasm. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just what exactly was in that letter Amy has? Will she use its contents to blackmail Sam into doing…something?

What will happen if Diane talks to that weird boy? Will he have anything to do with the title?

Why do Lorelai and Luke and Sam and Diane and Jake and Jess and Rory and Amy and Justin and Will and most possibly Kurt have to go to Emily and Richard's house?

Why on earth are there 14 main people in this story? 

Stay tuned for the next chapter!!

(Don't forget to review while you're waiting!)

~~Samantha 


End file.
